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The Queen with her surviving prime ministers, except for Lady ThatcherStefan Rousseau/PA

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The Queen arrived at the Downing Street lunch with the Duke of EdinburghCarl Court/AFP/Getty Images

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Sir John Major brought his wife, Lady NormaFacundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

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Gordon Brown came with his wife, SarahTimes photographer, Jack Hill

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But Tony Blair turned up aloneTimes photographer, Jack Hill

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Margaret Thatcher had welcomed the Queen to No 10, but missed today's lunchPA

Valentine Low

Published at 12:01AM, July 25 2012

Precisely what was said yesterday when the Queen had lunch with four of her
Prime Ministers at Downing Street is, unfortunately, a confidence that will
have to remain secret if not for ever, then at least until one of them
decides to spill the beans in their memoirs.

Until then the outside world will have to rely on what was unsaid. The lunch,
hosted by David Cameron and attended by all the living former Prime
Ministers — Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Sir John Major — apart from
Baroness Thatcher, was the latest engagement in the events marking the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.